FITCH, Bryan
| Service Number: | 6517 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 August 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 12th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Oatlands, Tasmania, Australia, January 1890 |
| Home Town: | Ross, Northern Midlands, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Tunbridge, Tasmania, Australia, 11 March 1972, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Ross Roman Catholic Cemetery, Tasmania, Australia |
| Memorials: | Municipality of Ross Roll of Honour, Oatlands Soldiers Memorial, Ross War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Aug 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6517, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 6517, 12th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Suffolk embarkation_ship_number: A23 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 6517, 12th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suffolk, Melbourne | |
| 7 Dec 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Driver, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
| 26 Sep 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 6517, 12th Infantry Battalion, Wounded 19/9/1917 Menin Rd GSW to right elbow Wounded 14/3/1918 SW right arm, left wrist |
Help us honour Bryan Fitch's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From The Museum at The Tasmanian Wool Centre
Bryan joined the 12th Battalion in August 1916, at the age of 26. Bryan was working as a labourer and his father, Thomas, was a shearer on Syndal. The family had strong ties with Tunbridge and owned property there.
Bryan arrived in France in April 1917. In September that year, he was shot in the elbow in fighting in Belgium, and was shipped to England. He returned to France in November, attending the Divisional Signal School. In March 1918, he was wounded again, this time in the left wrist and right arm. He was back in France in September 1918 to see out the remainder of the war.
He returned to Tasmania and to Tunbridge in 1919 and applied for land under the Returned Soldier Settlement Scheme. He died in 1972 at the age of 82.
Bryan's story is part of our exhibition: Our Grateful Thanks and Loving Remembrance, a moving and deeply personal exhibition remembering the soldiers whose names are immortalised on the Ross War Memorial.
Click images to start slideshow.